Broadcaster: More and more Czechs choosing autumn vacations over peak summer period

photo: (radio.cz)

For many Europeans, summer vacations are no longer limited to the summer, and more and more consumers, including Czechs, are taking holidays in the off-season. Czech Radio cited local travel agencies who say that interest in vacationing in the autumn has gone up in record numbers.

More and more, according to Czech Radio, are booking vacations not in the summer but for example September, when the number of tourists in popular areas drops significantly but the weather remains warm in some places and in some cases, exceptional. Other obvious benefits in the off-season include wider availability of rooms at resorts, hotels or bed & breakfasts which are otherwise hopelessly booked up in the peak season, as well as cheaper prices.

Karolína, a Czech student, told the broadcaster that she and her partner this year were looking at Greece in September, possibly the island of Santorini. Travel in September is a welcome option for young couples: no children means not having to be back in time for the new school year. Senior couples also take advantage of travelling in the off-season; the absence of hordes of not just children on the beach or at the resort swimming pools is also a clear advantage.

As for destinations, Greece remains an obvious choice, Jan Papež of the Association of Czech Travel Agents, confirms.

“As far as clients are concerned, the further south you go, the better. That means Cyprus, Crete, and Spain.”

The marketing director of Exim Tours Stanislav Zíma told Czech Radio that the sale of off-season holidays generally grew by 10 percent year-on-year; 2017, he pointed out was an exception, seeing a jump of more than 25 percent.